A Spoonful of Sugar
by Hazelember
Summary: Little Romano gets ill with a nasty flu, and boss Spain will do anything to make the little Italian child feel better!
1. A Strike of Realization

Hey! It's Gabi here, some of you might recognize me from tumblr. Anywho, this fic idea came to me during a rather dull Math class. I'm a beginning writer, so reviews are very much appreciated! Thank you, lovelies!

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Little Romano was terribly ill with the flu.

_Terribly, horribly, miserably ill._

Feeble, pale, and quiet, the usually feisty and rambunctious Italian child was diagnosed with a nasty flu, and was running an alarming temperature of 103.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Juggling 3 bottles of medicine, 5 rented movies, a basket full of tomatoes, _and a bag of sugar_, Mr. Antonio Fernandez Carriedo sprinted into his and Romano's cozy den.

"How are you feeling, Roma?"

The child only mumbled and buried his face into his favorite handmade tomato shaped pillow in response.

_Translation; The child felt horrid._

Antonio let our a sigh, and sat next to Romano Lovino Vargas, and forced a thermometer into the Italian's mouth.

"uny bttur?"

It had taken a moment for Antonio to register what Romano asked.

"Nope!;;" Antonio sheepishly scratched his head. "Looks like you're stuck with the cold bathtub!"

"**Aaughhh!**"

The child blindly aimed to punch his caretaker in the gut, however, he was too tired, and thus his hand descended back to the couch within seconds.

"It isn't that bad!~ Look, look! I'll even let you watch one of my favorite movies while you cool down in the bath!~"

Antonio held up a copy of 'Mary Poppins'.

"Fine." The small kid begrudgingly agreed.

Antonio leaped off of the couch, and went to preparing the cold bathtub for his favorite little man.

After all, the sooner the bath was ready, the sooner Romano's fever would go down, the sooner Romano would feel better! It was awfully heart-wrenching for the Spaniard to see Romano lose all of his spunk, because of illness, no less!

Within minutes, Antonio had returned in the living room, whistling an oh so cheerful tune. He scooped up the ill child in his arms, and was about to whisk him away, when he _quite nearly dropped the child!_

_Good God_, Roma was getting awfully heavy!

He was growing like a weed! Ah, what a mix of emotions! Romano would soon be independent and not need Boss's help anymore!

The Italian child screeched. "Why'd you nearly dro- are you -_ why on earth are you crying, dammit?_ "

Antonio pulled the child into an embrace.

"Promise boss you'll never ever ever leave him all alone! A boss can't be boss without a henchman, you know!"

It ended up taking quite a while for dependent boss Spain to cool off.


	2. Cheerup Charms

Final Exams are stressful. If I didn't have things to distract from the thought, I'd be dead from stress at the moment.

R.I.P. Gabi, Cause of death; Stress. Seems just about right.

Anywho! These chapters should be coming to you much quicker now that School's over. Expect updates twice a week.

To be honest, I have no idea how this story will go, nor how many chapters it could have!

As usual, critiques and reviews are appreciated! Thanks~

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2 hours. That's how long it took Romano to cheer Antonio up.

Romano always did hate seeing his beloved caretaker upset. Antonio meant the world to him.

When the world turned away from him, when the cold and harsh arms of reality grabbed the child all too quickly;  
Antonio was always there for him, arms wide open to hold the child.  
Of course, Romano would never admit it. He showed his admiration for the Spainiard in little ways.

Little ways that nobody but Romano and Antonio noticed.

Romano had attempted 3 times to make the man feel better. First, he tried to make him pasta. however, while he almost sucseeded, his pesky butterfingers caused him to drop the bowl of pasta, and he nearly gave Antonio an anuerism.

"Roma! I'll make you food. You're sick, you shouldn't even be up right now, let alone working!" While he seemed a little bit less mopey, his usual spunk was missing.  
And with that, Antonio escorted the child to the living room couch.

Being couch-ridden definately ruled out tons of options.

The next time 'boss' entered the room, Romano decided to just try the old pep talk method. "Hey! I may grow up, but Feli never will! He'll always be an immature bastard at heart! Plus! He's more well behaved, and can clean!"

The Spaniard's smile seemed to fade a bit.

Not a good sign.

"You have no idea, Roma," he paused for a moment, "Just how much you are, and just how much you mean to me."

Like hell that worked. In fact, Antonio seemed even worse! Dammit.

That wasn't the goal.

Romano was running low on ideas, but he was going to give one more a try.

"Fusososososososo!;;;"

Romano's caretaker poked his head into the room.

"What? I couldn't hear you well!"

"Fusosososososo!" Romano shouted, his face redder than ever.

Antonio's face lit up.

"Oh Roma!~ How adorable! I have the best henchman ever!"

"Damn straight,"


	3. Boss's Punishments and Roma's apologies

A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update, OTL! My grandmother finally returned from Texas with a broken hip, so we've been getting her situated back in Georgia. We're also moving in closer to Atlanta, so we're a little busy trying to move soon. Anywho, I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter! Reviews and Comments, along with critiques are always appreciated! Thanks~

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By the time Romano brought up the cold bath, the water in the tub was long past cold - it was lukewarm.  
"So, Roma!" The Spaniard cheerfully chimed, "What should we do while we wait for your tub to refill?"  
The child arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean, stupid? We're going to sit there and wait for it to fill." Doing anything to pass the time was begging for trouble, Romano thought, it was like the equivalent knocking on mayhem's door. Antonio could read the expression on the child's face; he was not amused. "Why are you always so grumpy, Roma? You need to relax and have fun~"  
Ugh, the way Antonio said that made it seem like he was spewing rainbows from his mouth whilst talking to a unicorn, while in reality, however, he was talking to the ever so grumpy Romano Lovino Vargas.  
"Hell, no!" The child blandly responded, "If I do, I will surely end up as dumb, clueless, and hopeless as yourself."  
The Spaniard scoffed. How dare he? Why, he, Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, was one of the world's former superpowers! He had found most of South and Centeral America! Lovino was growing up, but his smart mouth was growing twice as fast! It looks like time for Antonio to introduce some Spanish-style discipline to Mr. Too-big-for-his-britches Romano! "Why, I oughtta!" murmered Antonio under his breath.  
"Excuse me?" The small child blurted, "You oughtta do what?" Little Romano puffed out his cheeks.  
"That's it. You come here, right this instant, Lovino! And don't you roll your eyes, mister!" Antonio's voice was steady and strong, and you could hear the discipline in his voice, no doubt. Upon hearing his boss with such a tone, Romano abruptly turned around to face his caretaker, a frown finding a way onto his face. Lovino wasn't the slightest bit un-nerved or worried. Antonio had bouts of being a 'responsible and disciplinary caretaker'. Usually it just took a long boring lecture he never paid attention to, and Lovino was off. "You know, Romanito, you're going to have to learn some manners! And, I'm done with lecturing you, as it really doesn't work with such a rebellious child as yourself! Now, follow me." And with that, Antonio ushered the child upstairs.  
Lovino scoffed. "We're in a bathroom, boss." The way he said boss screamed mockery, he spit out the word like poison. Boss.  
(Lovino was certain this had to do with the squirrels wetting his bed, but, he was wrong.)  
"Now, I want you to take a nice long look at this bar of soap. Because this right here," Antonio tossed the bar into the air and caught it, "will be your mid-day snack."  
The child let out a cold chuckle. "Nice joke. Now seriously, I'm hungry, so go and make me some pasta."  
Mr. Carriedo lifted an eyebrow. "So you don't believe me?"  
"Why should I?"  
The child paced away.  
"Lovino... You get your smart mouth over here this instant!"  
The rebel took his sweet time waltzing over to Antonio, but the minute Lovino was within his reach, the caretaker scooped the Italian off of the floor, and had the disgusting bar of soap shoved in his mouth. Romano writhed, squealed, and and squirmed in Antonio's strong arms. Now, don't get me wrong. Saying Antonio even remotely enjoyed seeing the child get what he deserved was an outright lie. Lovino meant the world to him, seeing him upset was heart-wrenching, but...  
It had to be done.  
"Now Romano, repeat after me. I will not use bad language. I will respect my caretakeres."  
The child did as he was told. "Again."  
"I will respect my caretakers, I will not use bad language!"  
"Once more."  
Romano obeyed, his eyes stinging with forming tears. Antonio sighed. "Now, apologise."  
The Italian blubbered. He was just like any other child - he hated being yelled at. "I'm sorry!" "You know, I hate doing this to you, Roma, but you just have to learn!"  
The child stayed silent.  
"Now, let's go down stairs and make you some paella to make you feel better."  
A trip down the stairs (literally), and a sneeze in the face later, the two reached the bottom floor. Antonio's cheerful demeanor had vanished as he gaped at the now flooded floor from the overflowing bathtub. "Shit!"


End file.
